Game Design

(Elliott) #1

three feet tall and wears brown jodhpurs with a red aviator’s jacket, the latter with gold
trim. He also has a brown leather belt with various pouches on it. The large, clunky,
“moon boot” type boots that Sam wears are silver in color. On his back is mounted the
atomic-powered rocket-pack he uses to fly. It is a fairly small, compact device that is
several inches narrower than the width of his shoulders, and several inches shorter
than the distance from his belt to his neck. Sam has short black hair and wears a pair of
1930s-style aviator goggles. Sam’s abilities are covered throughout this document.
Sam’s personality is what would be expected of a ten-year-old boy of the bright future:
optimistic and smart. At the same time, Sam is without his parents for the first time in
his life, and is somewhat frightened of the world he must now explore on his own.


Friends



  • Xeraphina:In Benthos, Sam will meet a twelve-year-old girl named Xeraphina. A
    daughter of artists, Xeraphina has grown up entirely in Benthos, and has never
    seen the surface, a place she dearly longs to go. Xeraphina is able to glide around
    the city using a unique set of wings her parents invented, and will help Sam in his
    battles against his robotic adversaries. Xeraphina wears a tight-fitting light green
    outfit, with semi-translucent green shawls flowing around her body as she flies
    through the air. Her wings are made of a less translucent crystalline substance, are
    a darker jade green color, and are a good eight feet from tip to tip. Attached at her
    shoulder blades, they are a rigid construction, but flap slightly when she flies. She
    has a very friendly smile and wears her long brown hair in a bun behind her head,
    with a small paintbrush stuck through it to keep it in place.

  • Scrap:In Harmony, Sam will meet Scrap, a shiny-new, recently constructed robot
    no more than a few weeks old. Scrap is a very friendly fellow who enjoys using his
    high-pitched voice to tell jokes whenever he can; puns are his specialty. In many
    ways, Scrap behaves like a robotic version of a ten-year-old, and dreads the day that
    he will be sent off to his work assignment, though he does not yet know what it is.
    Scrap is happy being a robot, but just wishes he would never have to “grow up,” and
    dreams of a life traveling the world. Scrap is about Sam’s size and is humanoid in
    form, except that he has four arms and a particularly small head. Scrap can use his
    pogo-stick-like legs to jump great distances, helping Sam to defeat his robotic
    adversaries in whatever way he can.

  • Dulo:Dulo is Sam’s parents’ assistant. His general appearance as a Torso Moonie
    is described fully in the Moonie description below. In particular, Dulo wears special
    purple bracelets that he likes very much, which will help to make him stand out
    from the other Moonies, who all pretty much look the same, at least within the
    Torso or Bi-Header groups. Dulo is able to hop around and help Sam in defeating
    the robotic adversaries; his long tentacles are well suited to grabbing the robots out
    of the air and smashing them on the Moon’s surface.


Other Characters



  • Electric Priestess:The Electric Priestess is the mysterious woman who helps
    Sam to find out what happened to his parents and provides him with much useful
    information about the world. By the end of the story, the player learns that the
    Priestess is actually Max Zeffir’s sister and was also one of his chief researchers.


564 Appendix A: Sample Design Document:Atomic Sam

Free download pdf